Davide Rigon has confirmed reports he will not serve as Ferrari’s official reserve driver in 2012.
With Ferrari’s Jules Bianchi moving to Force India this year, it was initially assumed that Italian GP2 driver Rigon, 25, would be promoted to replace him on the race team.

Indeed, Ferrari confirmed last month that Rigon “has recently extended his relationship” with the scuderia.

But it was subsequently rumoured that Maranello based Ferrari does not consider Rigon ready to step in should Fernando Alonso or Felipe Massa need replacing during a grand prix weekend.

Reports in January said Adrian Sutil might be a contender for the third role.

Rigon told the Italian website F1Web that he will work on the simulator in 2012.

As for whether his responsibilities will include actual track testing, he answered: “I don’t know, although I cannot deny that I would like to do some during the season.

“I am available to the Scuderia and I have to keep myself ready for any eventuality, but right now I am not the third driver,” admitted Rigon.

Jean-Eric Vergne has predicted a good season ahead for Toro Rosso.
Along with Daniel Ricciardo, French rookie Vergne makes up the Red Bull junior team’s new driver lineup, following the ousting at the end of last season of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

Perhaps because their prize could be Mark Webber’s seat at the senior team in 2013, Ricciardo and Vergne set almost identical laptimes last week at Jerez as the new STR7 was tested for the first time.

And according to 21-year-old Vergne, the Ferrari powered car showed promising form overall.

“We hope to be one of the strongest teams in the middle of the classification,” he is quoted by the Italian website Tuttosport.

At the same time, Vergne is not getting carried away ahead of eight pre-season test days in Barcelona, starting next week.

“Barcelona could be different as Jerez was rather cold and the surface is very abrasive. I don’t think there’s much difference between the teams.”

Vergne is quoted by France’s L’Equipe: “What Jerez showed us I think is that we have a good basis.”

 Giedo van der Garde is set to return to the track with Caterham during the forthcoming Barcelona tests, reigniting speculation about Jarno Trulli’s future with the former Lotus team.
After the sponsor-backed Dutch GP2 driver was signed on as 2012 reserve driver, he was also drafted into the Jerez test lineup at short notice, bumping Italian veteran Trulli from Thursday’s running.

And France’s Auto Hebdo quotes the 26-year-old as revealing he expects to return to the wheel soon.

“It was not easy for me to fully exploit the new tyres and brakes, but it will be better at the next test.

“The team is happy with my performance. I hope to do another test before the season starts,” van der Garde said.

Also reportedly in the running at Caterham is the Renault refugee and Russian-backed Vitaly Petrov, with Sport Bild claiming Trulli’s 2012 place is “probably not safe”.

“For now I’m safe,” Trulli was quoted on Monday by the Italian website Stop and Go.

Also perhaps feeling nervous at present is Marussia’s new signing Charles Pic, who according to Dutch website f1today.nl is grappling with “sponsorship and payment problems”.

The former Virgin team denied the reports.

“I want to prove to everyone that I have the talent to succeed in F1,” he is quoted by French language RMC Sport.

“Timo (Glock) has a lot of experience and has been on the podium — my goal is to learn from him and try to beat him as soon as possible,” added Pic.

After dropping out of contention for the final 2011 race cockpit at HRT, Davide Valsecchi could still be in formula one this year.

The Italian website 422race.com claims the 24-year-old Italian, who has raced in GP2 in the last few years and impressed F1 chiefs with his pace at the Abu Dhabi test last November, is set to join Team Lotus.

Valsecchi will be a test driver alongside young Brazilian Luiz Razia, who was with the Virgin team in 2010.

The Italian report said Valsecchi will get a half-day of testing with Lotus at the Bahrain test in March, and probably then two outings on the Friday mornings of the Australian and Malaysian grands prix.

And Razia, another GP2 driver, will do as many as “five Friday free practice” sessions in 2011, added the report.

Vitantonio Liuzzi has denied he is discussing a financial settlement amid rumours Force India wants to replace him for the 2011 season.
Media reports this week said the Silverstone based team wants Paul di Resta to race alongside Adrian Sutil this season, despite Italian Liuzzi having an ongoing contract.

“My situation is clear,” the 29-year-old told Italian website 422race.com.

“Force India hasn’t informed me about any change and for me only the words of the team count.”

Liuzzi denied that settlements, including monetary payments or even a seat with Mercedes in the DTM championship, are being discussed.

“I wasn’t offered anything, as I said I haven’t spoken to Force India about anything like that,” he insisted.

He said his 2011 contract makes him confident, but refused to rule out a scenario where Force India might want to oust him.

“By now, nothing can surprise me any more in formula one,” said the veteran of more than 60 grands prix, also with Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

“But so far I wasn’t offered anything — neither money nor a seat in DTM, as I read elsewhere. They didn’t tell me such things, for sure,” insisted Liuzzi.

“I’m pretty calm, because I have a very clear deal with the team for the 2011 season and if they should decide to take other routes, they know what they are facing,” he said.

The plans for a formula one team are reportedly still alive, but Villeneuve/Durango is now more likely to turn its attention to NASCAR.

Ivone Pinton, principal of the Italian team Durango that pulled out of GP2 in 2009 with financial problems, echoed Jacques Villeneuve’s comments of last month that the collaboration is looking to buy one of the existing F1 teams.

Colin Kolles said in September that the rumours linking the struggling HRT team with Durango left him “speechless”.

But Durango’s Pinton insists F1 is a real option, telling the Italian website 422race.com that he and the 1997 world champion Villeneuve are “still working together” and in talks with “a couple of” the sport’s current teams.

“If we can do it in 2011, fine.  Otherwise we will go on working on it,” he explained.

French Canadian Villeneuve told the Canadian media last month that another option is to switch focus to NASCAR.

Pinton agreed, explaining that a successful foray in North America could precede a later attempt to “do things well in Europe”.

“This (NASCAR) is the most logical and possible situation,” he said.  “It’s useless to do something if you aren’t sure of the quality.  And we already saw how it is to do F1 without quality.”

Group Lotus has no plans to enter formula one, despite fighting to prevent its name from being deployed in the category next year.

Tony Fernandes’ Malaysian-backed Lotus Racing entered F1 this year with its name officially licensed by Lotus Cars, the famous British sports car maker.

But with Lotus Motorsport moving into racing next year with the GP2 team ART, it has withdrawn the license from Fernandes, who has instead bought the separate Team Lotus name from 1976 world champion James Hunt’s brother David.

The matter is now in the hands of the courts.

It might be said the decision to withdraw the license was related to Group Lotus’ plans to enter F1 in the near future, but Lotus Motorsport’s Claudio Berro insists this is not the case.

“This is not our decision at the moment because F1 has enormous costs,” he told the Italian website 422race.com.

“I think that, if Lotus is to go into F1, they have to do it at the top and competing with the best teams, unlike this year,” added Berro, clearly referring to Lotus Racing’s current position near the rear of the 2010 grid.

He is not ruling out a change of position in the future, depending on the sport’s regulations.

“Then if formula one will be accessible and the conditions will be there, we will see.  It will be a future step,” said Berro.

Robert Kubica on Friday said he is no closer to making a decision about his future.

In the wake of Felipe Massa’s re-signing by Ferrari, it had been expected the Pole would stay with Renault in 2011.

But a specialist Italian website claims that, amid criticisms of Michael Schumacher’s recent performances, Mercedes has made an offer to accommodate the impressive 25-year-old next year.

Asked about his situation in Valencia, Kubica told the Guardian: “I don’t know.  I haven’t made my decision yet.  It’s not keeping flexible.

“I don’t think what I will be doing in three years’ time — I don’t think what I will be doing in three weeks’ time,” he said.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier said recently he would soon sit down with Kubica and discuss the future.

Boullier said on Friday: “We are optimistic.  It’s nearly done — there is a contract in my suitcase.”

(GMM)

Omnicorse.it claims that on Friday in the Valencia paddock, a member of the German team made an offer to accommodate Kubica, 25, in 2011.

Kubica currently drives for Renault, and it had been expected he would remain with the team after Ferrari re-signed Felipe Massa for next year.

But Omnicorse said it is possible Kubica will replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes, even though the seven time world champion has a three year contract.

According to the rumour, Kubica is being offered a generous retainer for three years, including the option of a further two-year deal.

The report follows hot on the heels of stinging criticism of Schumacher’s lacklustre return to F1 this year after a three-year retirement.

“From inside the team we see things in a totally different perspective,” chief executive Nick Fry said in response to the criticism.

“We’re very comfortable with Michael’s performance and I can’t see any reason why he won’t come good.”

(GMM)

Jun.10 (GMM)  Yet another grand prix weekend will pass without an announcement about F1′s new tyre supplier for 2011.

But the Italian website 422race.com reports that Milan-based Pirelli has definitely secured the deal, with confirmation due between the Montreal and Valencia races.

A source at the company said the delay is taking place within the FIA’s legal department.

FIA president Jean Todt said in an interview this week that although FOTA may have made a decision, the governing body and commercial rights holder must first “launch a tender”.

Jun.7 (GMM)  In future, Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will not prevent the fastest RB6 from overtaking.

That was the revelation on Monday of the energy drink’s motor racing consultant Helmut Marko, who had earlier pointedly blamed Webber for the now famous Istanbul Park crash.

But he told the Italian website 422race.com that the issue was “solved” at last Thursday’s clear-the-air summit in Milton-Keynes.

“The two drivers can still freely battle, but they always have to let through each other.  That was the conclusion,” said the Austrian.

No less than 15 teams have applied for the final place on the 2011 formula one grid.

Italian website 422race.com reports that the governing FIA has now written to all those who expressed interest in the place made vacant by the demise of USF1.

June 21 has been set as the deadline for the teams’ actual application and dossier, at which time EUR12,750 must be paid.

The frontrunners must be successful GP2 team ART, headed by FIA president Jean Todt’s son Nicolas, and the Spanish Le Mans competitor Epsilon Euskadi.

422race.com claims that more than one team may be selected by the FIA, in case HRT or Sauber run further into financial trouble.